This is probably the easiest vegan lasagna you’ll ever make and one of the most delicious! No need to pre-cook the noodles – they soften as it bakes.
Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner with a group of people taking a Civil Rights Tour through the South. The menu for the night was barbecued pork sandwiches and pork-and-beans, the idea being to give them a little taste of local cuisine (which revolves around pork, apparently).
The only problem: Several of the 30 participants were vegetarian. When the planners of the dinner realized this, a call went out for vegan dishes, and I was happy to oblige with my potluck standard, vegan lasagna.
I’ve been making this recipe for years, and I can’t bring myself to change it. I keep thinking I should do something to fancy it up, but it’s my daughter’s all-time favorite food, so I never want to risk ruining a batch. (This is a kid who has written several essays this year about her love for lasagna; her hero is Garfield the cat.)
The Easiest Vegan Lasagna
Recipes for vegan lasagna abound, and I’m sure you can find fancier, richer tasting versions, but for sheer easiness of preparation and basic yumminess, this one can’t be beat. You don’t need to pre-cook the lasagna noodles, and you can make it super-easy by using jarred spaghetti sauce.
Check out just how easy it is in my short video.
You can make this as light or decadent as you want. Your choice of spaghetti sauce will determine how much fat it has. (For the lowest-fat version, use a sauce with no oil added; Whole Foods has one.)
For some special occasions, I sprinkle the lasagna with vegan cheese during the last 5 minutes of cooking. This option is, of course, not fat-free, but it really helps “sell” it to any omnivores you happen to be feeding.
But the plain, uncheesified lasagna seemed to be a hit at last night’s dinner. The pan returned home empty (and not just because E. ate 4 pieces!) I regret that I never got the opportunity to find out who the vegetarians in the group were, but it felt good just to know that they were there.
Easy Vegan Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms sliced
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 24-oz jars spaghetti sauce or your favorite pasta sauce
- 9 uncooked lasagna noodles (regular lasagna noodles NOT no-boil noodles)
- Vegan Parmesan such as my almond parm, optional
- Sliced black olives optional
Filling:
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
- 1 pound firm or extra-firm tofu not silken!
- 1 teaspoon salt optional
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast adds a cheesy taste
- 1 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary crushed
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Sauté the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat in the 2 tbsp. water until tender; cover between stirring to keep them from drying out. Remove from heat and add the spaghetti sauce.
- Place the tofu and thawed spinach in the food processor and process briefly. Add the remaining filling ingredients to the processor and blend until smooth. (You may do this without a food processor by using a potato masher on the tofu.)
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spread half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9×12-inch pan. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, using three dry noodles and leaving a little space in between them. Spread half of the tofu mixture on the noodles (you can drop it by spoonfuls and then spread it or hold each noodle in the palm of your hand and spread the tofu on it before placing it in the pan). Cover with another layer of 3 noodles and then spread the remaining tofu mixture over them. Top with a final layer of noodles, and pour the remaining sauce over this.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with vegan Parmesan or cheese and sliced black olives if you want. The lasagna will cut better if you allow it to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Please share:
kmackay2010
This is the first recipe I’ve made from your site, and whoa! It is GOOD!!! I’m so excited to have found this site, and also Fat Free Vegan Recipes. Thanks!
Audra
I can’t thank you enough for this recipe. I made it last night and it was delicious. I am new to being vegan and on top of that fat free, it is great to have a website like this to refer to.
Thanks Again,
Audra
Nancy Lynn Appleby
Simply delicious! First time making the Easy Vegan Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna for our extended family(no vegans in the group) and they all raved about it! Our 11 yr old granddaughter had 3 helpings & even my fire fighter “I got to have my beef” son loved it. Can’t wait to try more recipes.
Thanks Susan.
Julie
Susan,
I was at Whole Foods getting some things for a vegan farewell party. Someone had suggested making lasagna, so I pulled out the smart phone and up came your recipe. I try to stay out of the kitchen these days, but this WAS super easy to do. I mostly stuck with the recipe, but probably added a lot more fresh rosemary, basil and oregano. Loved not having to mess with cooking the lasagna noodle first. Everyone that was open to trying it seemed to like it.
Genny Homyack
Thank you for this recipe! I’m slowly becoming a fat free whole grain vegan while the rest of my family has various diets ranging from meat and potatoes to vegetarian. Everyone loved this. Even my husband who is the meat eater. My teen son took this to school for lunch 3 days in a row and ignored the bbq turkey. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, I added fresh basil leafs and some fresh oregano to the top. It crisped up and was very yummy. I also used whole wheat no cook lasagna noodles.
Kerista Cowan
Hi Susan,
I’ve had a bad experience with a different vegan lasagna recipe but want to try yours after reading so many good reviews. I always get overwhelmed by al lthe choices of spaghetti sauce at the grocery store and different sauces can greatly affect the taste of the lasagna, so I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of spaghetti sauce you use.
Maria
I made this a few days ago (my first ever from your site) and to my surprise my carnivore family (husband and teen daughter) actually gave it a thumbs up! I bought spelt lasagne noodles (the first time I’ve ever tried them..they worked out well)..and I also didn’t have spinach (like I thought I did)! So I used kale and parsley in the filling. I left out the oregano and rosemary (opting for fresh basil only). I thank God for nutrional yeast.. a new discovery for me (as I try to switch to a plant-based diet). It’s called ‘Savoury Yeast Flakes’ here and quite expensive.. but I could eat it by the teaspoonful. I bought a new food processor the other day…and this was the first recipe I made with it 🙂 So I don’t think I’ll ever forget this lasagne. I used to make a similar recipe but with dairy.. lots of cream cheese and ricotta and hard cheese.. a lot of dairy. My liver simply doesn’t like dairy products as much as I do. I’m excited about your site.. as it’s giving me inspiration to cook some vegan meals.. thank you 🙂
Natascha
I’ve been looking at this recipe for two weeks now and finally decided to try it this weekend. It looks and sounds delicious! I can’t bring myself to eat mushrooms so I’ll be using broccoli instead.
Do I really need 48 ounces (1.4 liters) of sauce? That seems like an awful lot. My dad recommended that I should use one third or at most half of that. I don’t want to change too much of the recipe though out of fear it won’t taste as fantastic as the reviews make it sound..
Also, I could only find lasagna noodles that don’t need to be pre-cooked anyway (according to the packaging). Would that make any difference to the recipe, e.g. baking time?
Susan Voisin
Natascha, all that sauce allows the regular noodles to cook in the oven. If you switch to no-boil noodles, you can use less sauce, but I’m not sure how much because I’ve never made it with them. No-boil noodles are thinner and might take less time, too. I’m really surprised that you couldn’t find regular lasagna noodles.
Kathy
Best lasagna ever! I made this recipe this morning and it was fabulous. I am not a big fan of tofu, but it really made the dish. I just started a low fat vegan lifestyle with my son three weeks ago and I am just tickled to get such an awesome recipe that I really enjoy. I will pass this on to my friends and family. Thank you!!!
Trish
Best tasting healthy lasagna recipe EVER! And really easy to make. Only problem is not diving head-first into the pan and only coming up when it’s empty. 🙂 Thank you!
jaime
have you tried using fresh spinach? frozen spinach is tough to work with.
Dawn
I tried once and the taste was fine but the tofu/spinach layer was a green/gray color after cooking. I guess I blitzed then a bit long in the food processor.
Nan
Hi Susan. Can your Mushroom and Spinach Lasagna be frozen prior. Any suggestions? Thank you…Nan
Susan Voisin
Sure. You can also bake it and then freeze it, for easy reheating later.
Genny Homyack
Do you have a time suggestion to cook a frozen lasagna? I happen to have one sitting in my freezer now. I made a double batch last week.
Susan Voisin
I haven’t ever cooked a whole frozen one, Genny. I cut it into pieces after cooking and then freeze it so it doesn’t take so long to heat up. I would think that a whole frozen one would take as long to heat up as the original cooking time, and if you froze it before baking, then it’ll take even longer.
Dawn
I made this again last night and it was just as delicious as always. I was in a rush and tired. I didn’t saute the mushrooms. I used a 32 oz tetra box of tomato sauce that I jazzed up with spices/herbs. I rinsed the box with about a half cup of water and poured that around the edges. I guess the water in the mushrooms and that water with the sauce was enough. Turned out great! Thanks again Susan for so many delicious meals and ideas!
Annabel Lee
I have a really hard time finding vegan lasagna noodles, all of them contains egg. Can anybody help me and tell, which brand of lasagna pasta/noodles are vegan? Thank you.
Susan Voisin
Annabel, can you say where you live? I’m in the southern US, and I’ve never seen lasagna noodles that are NOT vegan. I’m talking about the dried kind on the shelves, not any kind that needs to be refrigerated. Barilla, De Vinci, DeLallo, and even the store brand are vegan in my grocery store.
Annabel Lee
Thank you, Susan, for such quick reply. I live in Chicago. And for pasta usually I use Barilla. But I’m sure, lasagna of Barilla contains egg. I did not look for De Vinci and DeLallo. Thank you.
Jess
I would like to attest to the deliciousness of this recipe. Made it tonight without cayenne and with courgettes aswell as mushrooms and it is gorgeous. Will definitely make it again 🙂
Lorraine
LOOOOOOVED IT!
I did use Gluten Free lasagna and it turned out great. I also used fresh tomato sauce instead of jarred spaghetti sauce (just because I prefer fresh) and then I used a mix of freshly cooked spinach mixed with freshly cooked kale, and added that mix into the food processor with the tofu. The kale adds a nice taste. Thanks for posting this. Definitely a keeper!
Philippa
This recipe is wonderful. I served it to my husband’s meat-eating golf buddies, and it was a hit!
I also used the filling from this recipe, plus a tablespoon of lemon juice, in calzones. They were fabulous! I added roasted cloves of garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms and onions, kalamata olives, and a small amount of sliced fresh spinach in the filling as well. Pine nuts, artichoke hearts – lots of other ingredients would be delicious. We topped ours with warm marinara sauce once they were baked.
Thanks for sharing all of your recipes!
Susan Voisin
Wow! You really took the filling and made it your own. It sounds awesome!
Becky
I don’t like eating much soy, so I replaced the tofu with cauliflower! It was great! I’ve made it twice and my 5 year old loves it too 🙂
Brittany
Hello,
Thank you for your wonderful website! Question… have you ever made your lasagna with your white sauce (from your pasta/veggie dish) instead of red sauce? My friend has reflux and can’t do the red sauce and I would like to make her a lasagna without dairy. This one looked perfect and easy based on reviews, was just hoping I could find a way to leave out tomato.
Thanks!
Brittany
Susan Voisin
I’ve never done that, but I think it should work. I have more than one white sauce, though, so I would probably have to look at the specific sauce recipe in order to judge how well it would do in the oven. Plus, this recipe calls for a LOT of sauce (two jars) and most of my recipes don’t make even half that. You can reduce the need for sauce if you cook the noodles beforehand.
Brittany
Looking forward to trying it, thanks!
Sally
I made this last night for my husband and sister, both carnivores. They raved about it and my sister insisted on taking home the recipe! So good!
Ruth
These lasagna recipes sound sooooo delicious. I’m cooking for a diabetic husband and myself with high blood pressure and watching salt/fat intake. As I look at the nutritional breakdown of all these recipes, they seem so high in sodium and fat – how can I calculate what they will be if I omit salt? I’m desperate to cut out added salt as I seem to retain water so easily. Can’t wait to try that spaghetti squash pesto lasagna recipe.
Susan Voisin
Ruth, in both those recipes, the sodium comes mostly from the spaghetti sauce followed by the added salt. So you can reduce the sodium a lot by using low-sodium pasta sauce (you can make it at home with unsalted tomatoes) and leaving out the salt. In this recipe, the pasta sauce I used provided 522mg of sodium and the salt 258.
Tiana Gustafson
Thank you so much for this amazing looking recipe! I love healthy recipes and I will look forward to trying it out and sharing it with my followers at TianaGustafson.com. As Arnold says “I’ll be back” 🙂 Thanks again!
Usha
This is a great recipe. A light and flavorful lasagna! Thanks so much!
Susan, do you think it would turn out well using thinly-sliced sweet potato slices in place of the lasagna noodles? I know it wouldn’t be pasta, but I think the fillings might stand up to it? What say you?
Lynn
Thank you for this recipe!
This is so easy to put together (compared to regular lasagne), but just as delicious and well-liked by kids (compared to regular lasagne).
It even smells “cheesy” when it is cooking in the oven.
Thank you so very much!
nicole
Anyone that has made this with GF noodles, would you mind sharing what brand you used? I have a box of De Boles and am curious if those turn out ok. I don’t know if you have ever used GF noodles for this yourself Susan, or if you know a good brand to try. Thanks!
Annie
I imagine those vegetarians were also progressives in the civil rights field as well.
I will make your lasagna recipe this week. Oh boy.
Valerie Tooby
Your vegan lasagne looks so delicious ill be baking your recipe for dinner this
evening my family really enjoys vegan foods ,i’ts so much better for our health.
Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.
VJ (Australia)
rebekah
if you havent tried this recipe, you must. it’s become a family favorite, and i love that it gets my picky toddler to eat spinach. delicious!
Jem
Since I’m a new vegan, I’m clueless about tofu but I’ve been reading a lot. Everything I read says that it should be “pressed” to remove the water. Should I do that for this recipe? I’ve also been confused about how long to press tofu. Some sources say 20-30 minutes and others say overnight! HELP! 🙂
Jem
I’m replying to my own comment! It didn’t dawn on me before to search all of the comments for that information about pressing the tofu I see now that it doesn’t have to be pressed. You have a lot of very positive comments on this recipe! I’m excited to try it out. Thank you so much for your great site.
Susan Voisin
You only need to press tofu if you’re using it for tofu “steaks” or sometimes cubes, and even then it’s not always necessary unless the tofu is soft or you just want a firmer texture. For something like this, you wouldn’t want it pressed because it’s going to be ground up to resemble ricotta cheese and you don’t want it to be too dry. Just follow the directions on any recipe you make with tofu. If it needs to be pressed, the instructions will say how long to do it.
Jem
Thank you. I got the impression from what I read that tofu always had to be pressed. Good to know that I can skip that step depending on the recipe!
Sylvia
Hi! 🙂 Just wanted to say thanks for this recipe – I found it too dry for my liking, but I adapted it by adding the white sauce from your polenta lasagne recipe and playing with some of the quantities, and I love the results.
If you do ever want to adapüt the recipe: smoked tofu is very yummy in this.
I love your blog! Thank you for all your inspiring recipes.
Jen
This was the first vegan lasagna I made a few months ago and it was a winner! I used homemade marinara sauce and used the tofu ricotta recipe for VWAV with spinach added. I don’t know why I have not made it since!
Since it was a favorite of my husband, I was hoping to make it for valentines day dinner. Can it be made/assembled the night before and baked the next day? Would there be any additional steps I would need to take? I assume it would need to be baked for slightly longer if it comes right out of the fridge.
Thank you for you help!
Susan Voisin
It does just fine when prepared the day before. Just be sure to either let it get to room temperature before putting it in the oven or let it preheat along with the oven. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Linda
I don’t know how to add this to my recipe box. Please help!
Susan Voisin
At the very top of the post, between the title and the share icons, there’s a line that says “Add to Recipe Box.” Click that.
melissa
This lasagna is soooo good! Even carnivores and cheese lovers like it. It has become a regular in our dinner rotation, and I pass the link on to anyone who newly discovers food allergies and thinks they can’t have anything delicious 🙂
I add lots of veggies (onions, zucchini, variety of mushrooms etc), and use oven-ready brown rice noodles. I discovered too, if I get the “cube” of frozen chopped spinach and don’t squeeze it completely dry, the tofu mix is easier to spread 🙂
Thanks so much for a delicious recipe!!!
-melissa
Carmen Needham
Hi, This looks delicious! I will have to try it. I saw on here I believe the beet and garbanzo bean meatballs, but I am not finding them now. I have part of the ingredients, but I can’t find the recipe to complete it, lol. I love the recipes you share. I wonder if you can help me find it.
Thanks
Carmen
Susan Voisin
Here’s the link: https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2012/02/beetballs-a-vegan-gluten-free-soy-free-sausage-recipe.html. Hope you enjoy them!
Joan Tester
I made this yesterday for a group of (very omnivore) friends and just had to tell you how great it was! There were the usual jokes about still looking for the meat, but everyone enjoyed it and it was really very easy to put together. I used only one layer of whole wheat lasagne noodles and used sliced eggplant for the others. I didn’t have any vegan cheese for the top but it still had a good cheesy taste. Thank you for another great recipe Susan.
Sharon
I am a wheat free vegan, so you could substitute eggplant slices for the lasagna noodles. Just a suggestion, and I think a healthier one. I’ve made several variations of lasagna using eggplant instead of wheat lasagna noodles, and no one has ever noticed the difference. In fact, some have asked what kind of noodles I use. I do love checking out the recipes you post. I only ever have a problem with ones containing wheat or sugar, but have figured out how to work around that. Thanks for so many delicious ideas,
Sharon
If you pan fry the eggplant first, it doesn’t get to the state that some have commented on. The same might hold true for zucchini.
Chen
Susan, do you have a favorite brand of store bought spaghetti sauce? I’m making this for my omni guests in 2 weeks 😀
Susan Voisin
I used to use Classico, but lately I’m using the Whole Foods brand because they have some that are oil-free and others that are organic.
Phyllis Carter
We made this yesterday and liked it so well we are making it again Saturday to take to a friend’s house for lunch. Super easy and super good. Thanks